Titans advance to CWOSSA AA qualifier in boys hockey
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Holy Trinity Titans scored two late goals in Monday’s AABHN varsity boys hockey final to beat the Simcoe Sabres 4-2 at Talbot Gardens.
“The kids persisted – they were persistent all game,” said Holy Trinity coach Chris VanParys.
Holy Trinity right-winger Cy Vandenbussche scored his team’s first goal, sniping a shot bar down, and Mason Demeulemeester made it 2-1 for the Titans late in the second period.
“I got a pass from our end, beat the guys wide, and then just (shot) five-hole,” said Demeulemeester.
The one-goal lead held until late in the third when Simcoe’s E. Boucher scored with 1:48 remaining to even the score at 2-2.
Holy Trinity answered just seven seconds later with Taylor Harding rushing to the front of the Sabres net to convert a pass from Vandenbussche for the game-winner.
“I was just trying to get there, make sure if he (Vandenbussche) got it on net I was there,” said Harding. “And he made a beautiful pass out front. I barely had to move my stick, it was right there.
“I was surprised that it came that fast, but I had no doubt that we were going to score,” said Harding. “Even if it went to overtime, we were coming back. We were pressuring them the whole game. That (Boucher) shot, that was a beautiful goal, I was surprised by that, but I had no doubt we were going to come back and score that winner.”
“Just worked hard, got the puck deep, put shots on net,” said Demeulemeester. “Just played our game.”
“Stayed strong throughout the whole game,” nodded Vandenbussche. “We didn’t put our heads down when they tied it back up, we went right back out there, going strong.”
“It felt like we were mostly in their end, outshot them by a lot,” said Titans’ Chase McCallum, who scored an empty net goal with 18 seconds remaining to make it a 4-2 final.
“Dangled the defender, went up to the other (defenceman) and shot it through his legs,” said McCallum.
Simcoe, 0-3-1 in the regular season after tying HT 4-4 on Feb. 8, had shut out Delhi (2-2-0) 5-0 in a Feb. 22 semifinal.
“Nice for the kids to respond right away after that tough one,” said VanParys. “I will definitely take my hat off to Simcoe and their goaltender (A. Auld), he definitely played an outstanding game. All year, Simcoe has played us very, very tough. They are a good team over there, for sure.”
Holy Trinity advances to Friday’s CWOSSA AA qualifier.
“It’ll be fun,” said McCallum.
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